Our Hero Academia: Chapter 46
Absorb and Redirect Zenji ran down the stairs into the basement of the warehouse. He was still pumped full of adrenaline, but his movements suddenly halted. He stared in complete and utter shock at the sight before him. Many people, of all shapes and sizes, trapped inside green culture fluid, held inside tubes as if they were are objects to be experimented on. And the worst part of it all, was that Ai was right in front of him. He mumbled her name, took a step towards the glass, and clenched a fist, getting ready to break it. "I wouldn't suggest that if I was you." Said a deep, almost mocking voice as Damien Wolf walked out from behind one of the tubes. He had a wide smirk on his face as he walked over to Ai's tank and gently patted it. "If you do that, i'm gonna get in trouble, and we can't have that. So why don't you be a good little boy, and give me a good fight." Zenji glared at Damien, a sudden air of intimidation came from him, but only for a brief second. He was already right in front of him. He pulled back his fist, it glowing an electric blue as he prepared to unleash the kinetic energy stored within. "Negative Impact!" He aimed a straightforward punch towards the guard's gut. The smirk on Damien's face only got wider as the punch struck his stomach. It was far stronger than he had thought it would be, but was still prepared for it. The force of it sent his flying backward into the wall on the other end of the room. To any normal person, the punch would have killed them, but Damien had conditioned his body to take hits and his quirk activated at the onset of pain from the punch. "Kid. Let me tell you." He said as his voice darkened. Walking forward from the wall a night black aura surrounded him. "If that's all you got you won't get anywhere with someone stronger than me." Zenji's rage only seemed to intensify from his taunts, but he new he needed to calm down. If he went berserk he could harm one of the innocents in the area. Not to mention, he didn't know his opponent's Quirk. "I've heard that my entire life. And I'll prove you wrong, just like everyone else." Zenji motioned for Damien to attack him, goading him into showing off his Quirk. Damien of course knew the boy was taunting him into attack first, but also knew he had no information on his quirk. With speed that would have outmatched most of Zenji's prior opponents, he sprinted at him. Throwing a high kick aimed at Zenji's head, he held back slightly as to not show that it wasn't only his speed that had increased. Zenji ducked underneath the kick. "Compared to Mirai and Dad..." he pulled back his fist once again, "you're slow!" He aimed his counterattack, and uppercut, straight towards Damien's chin. He had managed to stay conscious after his first punch, so he didn't attempt to restrain himself. The sooner Damien was out, the better. Utilizing his enhanced reflexes Damien ducked back from the uppercut and this time threw a punch towards Zenji's chest, using his enhanced strength to increase the impact. Zenji's free hand moved in the way of Damien's punch. He caught the fist, but the impact still managed to send him skidding backwards. He felt as though he had just had the wind knocked out of him. "Strength enhancement?" He asked himself. "I can handle that. But it could be something more." With the kinetic energy he had just absorbed, he formed an energy dagger in his hand, throwing it towards Damien's chest. The impact would cause an explosion that would send him flying backwards. Impressed, was the thought that crossed Damien's mind as the dagger came flying at him. Using his speed he moved out of the way of the dagger but just enough to avoid serious damage, allowing the blade to cut him across the shoulder. The pain surged through his body again, and again his quirk created a black aura that increased his physical abilities. This time, he taunted Zenji waving him over. Zenji bolted towards Damien. He pulled back his arms as if to unleash a punch, but when he went to attack, instead it was a smack from one of his escrima sticks, which had come out from his wrist. He took out the second one as well, quickly putting them together into a pole, which he proceeded to strike Damien with from the back end, doing all of this in two fluid motions. Damien raised an arm when Zenji pulled his punch back, only the switch from a block to dodging the escrima sticks coming at him. It was a weapon he was aquainted with and made sure to keep track of both weapons before his opponent combined the sticks into a pole, using it to strike him. While the increase in Zenji's reach was great, Damien was able to track the one side of the staff that was attacking him and when the opportunity rose he grabbed it and pulled back, attempting to throw Zenji across the room. Zenji couldn't help but smirk as Damien grabbed onto his staff. The entire tool glowed blue as a sudden burst of kinetic energy shot through it, possessing enough force to send the man flying back and away. Zenji had activated this before Damien's grasp on his staff was complete, therefore Zenji wouldn't lose his weapon. Again, Damien was impressed with his opponent. Flying backward from the force of the blast and slamming into the wall. His back seized in pain as he growled, this was the most he had felt from the boy so far, but his weakness didn't last long. Standing up he felt his power surge once again and with even greater speed sprinted forward and threw a hard punch at Zenji's chest. Zenji moved his staff into the path of Damien's fist, knocking it off course. He retaliated with an open palm thrust towards Damien's chest. Damien spun with this fist being knocked off course and blocks the palm strike with his left hand and throws an elbow at Zenji's head with his right. Zenji heard a distinct crack as Damien's elbow hit him. His vision was blurry for only a few moments before he retaliated with a leg sweep, aiming to send Damien off-balance. He'd follow up with another punch to his abdomen, which his opponent would be unable to dodge, given he'd be in midair from either being tripped or jumping over it. Zenji didn't show it, or even know he felt it, but he was beginning to feel uneasy. Despite all his training, this man had still managed to crack his skull. The low kick did catch the fighter off guard, causing him to fall backward with his legs swinging up. Seeing the punch coming and using his backward momentum to catch himself on his hands he threw his legs forward to parry the punch and send it off course while flipping himself back into a standing position. "Damn, you're better than I thought boy. But you aren't experienced enough and you certainly aren't strong enough, to put me down." "Put you money where your mouth is," said Zenji, motioning for him to attack him once more. His face was filled with rage and determination. Damien smirked. His quirk already pushing his physical abilities even further beyond their natural power. With yet more speed he ran at his opponent and this time threw a set of straight punches followed by a quick right leg roundhouse kick. Each punch designed to strike his targets face if he was unable to dodge or block. Zenji's arm moved in front of him, redirecting the punch without having to take most of the brunt force. With the kick, however, he grabbed onto Damien's leg, pulling him down to the ground as he pinned him. He began to pull on him, not relenting until he heard the familiar snap of a broken bone. Damien had experienced this leg lock technique before and let out a little smirk. As Zenji was using his whole body to keep the one leg in position it allowed him to use his other leg, while pushing with his arms he used his superior strength to force the trapped knee to bend and avoid being broken while sitting up and starting to deliver devastating punches to Zenji's side. Despite all of Damien's attempts to force him off, Zenji wouldn't relent. HIs eyes had become bloodshot, and a faint green glow could be seen coming from his back. He could barely feel Damien's punches anymore as adrenaline coursed through his body. He aimed to break Damien's leg with a final, strong lurch. Damien looked at the boy and felt a light smirk come across as the pain of his bone starting to break appeared. He quickly forgot about it though as his quirk started to empower him from the pain of it. "I see that blood thirst in your eyes boy. Maybe you aren't as weak as I thought you were." Zenji rolled away and back to his feet, having let go of Damien's leg the second he heard it snap. "I'm going to give you one less chance to let all these people go, or else I'm going to put you in the infirmary of whatever prison you end up in." "I have to admit kid, this is the furthest I've been pushed kid. I'll reward you. This next attack will be my strongest." Although his leg was in severe pain he stood up, using the energy that his body gave him to hold himself up with sheer bloodlust. With still great speed he shot at Zenji and threw a punch clouded with black energy at his chest. Zenji made no attempt to dodge. He simply braced himself. He coughed up blood as Damien's fist pierced his chest. It appeared as though Damien had won. However, he couldn't pull his hand out of the hole that Damien's fist had put in his chest. The flesh began to heal around his arm, trapping him inside of Zenji. "That was your strongest punch, huh?" Zenji said, his fist glowing. "Then I guess I should respond in kind." He pulled back his fist and launched a devastating assault towards his opponent's face. "Pain Packer!" The smirk didn't leave Damien's face as the punch struck him. A cracking sound resounded through the building as he flew backward quiet a bit, knocked out on impact with the punch and sliding to the opposite wall without consciousness. Zenji was panting, wincing as the hole in his chest began to close. "Even with the morphine... Jesus..." He walked over to the tube with Ai in it. Perhaps he had been too hasty earlier when he attempted to break it open. Thinking more clearly now, he saw a console. He rolled his eyes when he saw a button on it that said "open". Pressing it, the tube quickly drained of its fluid and opened. Ai fell into his arms, coughing slightly, some of the fluid exiting her mouth. Her eyes slowly opened as she looked up to see her rescuer. "Zenji..." she said weakly, "What are you doing here?" "I'm here to get you," he said, tears welling up in his eyes. "Why are you crying? Oh yeah, I got kidnapped, didn't I?" "Yeah, you did." "I bet I'm making Shiketsu really proud." Zenji chuckled, wiping the tears from his face. "Alright, I'm gonna get you out of here." "Zenji," Ai said, touching his face. "Yakedo's here."